Serious bidders only

Scottish clubs will no longer be bullied

WHILE the rest of the retail world has spent January posting up ‘Sale’ signs, Scottish football has been tearing them down.

Those in the hunt for a bargain are being advised to look elsewhere when they call at certain doors north of the border. The change in attitude has been truly refreshing.

Clubs who may once have been happy to take the merest crumbs of cash from England’s overflowing banqueting table — or elsewhere — are now demanding a fair slice of money before parting with prized assets. The dawn of 2017, it seems, has seen many decide they will no longer be treated with disdain in the transfer market.

The stance was reflected in comments from Rangers manager Mark Warburton this week, when he considered the current interest surrounding Barrie McKay.

‘I think there is a lack of appreciation for the Scottish market,’ said Warburton. ‘I think there is an unnecessary derogatory stance or view sometimes of the Scottish game.’

Celtic counterpart Brendan Rodgers offered similar thoughts last month. Adamant they will not sell Moussa Dembele in the current window, the Parkhead club were dismissive of talk of a £20million offer from West Ham United.

‘We don’t want to or need to sell anyone,’ said Rodgers. ‘Gone are the days when someone’s going to look at the Scottish market and think: “We’ll get someone out of Celtic because it’s Scottish football”. A talent is a talent and, without being arrogant, I know what it looks like.’

That outlook now seems to have extended further down the Premiership. Eyebrows were raised when Kilmarnock rejected an initial £500,000 offer for Souleymane Coulibaly, who was signed on a free transfer just six months previously.

But holding firm paid real dividends. When the Ivorian striker joined Egyptian side Al Ahly on Tuesday, it was in a deal potentially worth up to £1m.

Elsewhere, Aberdeen have rightly dismissed a £500,000 bid from Cardiff City for Jonny Hayes. Manager Derek McInnes described it as ‘bizarre’ when a second offer worth the same amount was then submitted, albeit with tweaked payment terms. Insulting would be an alternative description.

Cardiff operate in a league where players being sold for £10m-plus is no longer uncommon. Offering half-a-million for Hayes, one of the most effective players in the Scottish Premiership, is a clear case of chancing your arm.

The move was swiftly slapped down by Aberdeen, who are thought to be looking for double that amount for the 29-year-old. ‘Get serious’ was the message delivered back to Wales.

In the Championship, Falkirk are understood to have placed a £750,000 price tag on sought-after young left-back Tony Gallacher. A request from Manchester United to take the 17-year-old on trial was knocked back.

So what lies behind the harder bargaining being witnessed across Scotland? To Steven Pressley, who has experience of the market on both sides of the border from his time managing Falkirk, Coventry City and Fleetwood Town, it is a sign of the slowly improving health of our game.

‘A lot depends on the financial situation within the selling club,’ said Pressley. ‘Are they able to stay strong or do they have to sell?

‘There might now be a little bit more stability in the finances of a number of Scottish clubs that is allowing them to stay stronger.

‘When I was at Falkirk, for example, we were under pressure at that time to sell. So your negotiating power is less because you require the money. Eventually, we managed to trade our way out of that difficult situation.

‘If you are not in a position where you need to sell, then, of course, you can be stronger in your negotiations.

‘I think Scottish clubs are very much aware of the finances in the English game right now. Even into League One in England, there are astronomical amounts of money being spent.’

While the likes of Dembele will be destined for the elite end of the game, selling into the lower English divisions is the norm for most Scottish clubs.

In that respect, Pressley points to a change in the loan rules south of the border that allows the thumbscrews to be turned a little tighter.

‘I think this will have a big bearing on the market,’ argued Pressley. ‘From the English Championship downwards, you previously had the ability to go out and take loan players after the deadline on January 31. That has all changed now. If business isn’t done in the window, nothing more can happen.

‘That is a significant alteration in England because it brings a great pressure to do business in January, a pressure that wasn’t there before.

‘Previously, if Cardiff hadn’t got Jonny Hayes during the window, they would have had the chance to loan an English-based alternative after the deadline. They no longer have that facility.

‘It means the market becomes even more aggressive among the big Championship and League One clubs, who know they must work within a specific timescale.

‘The January window is one where you can stay strong. The market in England is tough during this month. Nobody wants to sell, especially now with that change to the loan rules.

‘The availability of players is becoming less. So if you studied the market, as I would hope chief executives in Scotland have, then you realise you can be more demanding.’